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Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Greeks Can’t Tap Cash, Gold, Silver In Bank Safety Deposit Boxes. In the US, the five major banks have made illegal to store cash, gold, or silver in safe deposit boxes, or they will be seized. Makes you wonder...how do they know?

Greeks Can’t Tap Cash, Gold, Silver In Bank Safety Deposit Boxes- Greek capital controls also prevent access to contents of safe deposit boxes- Restrictions on safe deposit access doesn’t protect banking system unless contents confiscated- Readers should heed warnings by Marc Faber and Ian Spreadbury of Fidelity- Important to own assets outside banking system and not in bank safe deposit boxes- Own physical bullion in private safety deposit boxes and the safest private vaults
Capital controls have been in place in Greece since the start of the
month to protect the banks from mass withdrawals by nervous Greeks. They
have rightly been concerned about their savings, the collapse of the
banking system and the loss of their savings in deposit confiscations or
bail-ins.
Many Greeks were also withdrawing their cash because they fear the
country might be forced back onto the drachma. However a little known
fact is that, Greeks who had prepared for bank runs by withdrawing cash
and buying gold and silver bullion and then lodging that bullion and
indeed cash into safety deposit boxes have also been caught up in the
draconian capital controls.
We have warned about this for many years and warned as recently as April this year that people should avoid using safety deposit boxes in banks.
“Greeks cannot withdraw cash left in safe deposit boxes at Greek
banks as long as capital restrictions remain in place”, Nadia Valavani, a
Deputy Finance Minister in Greece told local television station
according to a Reuters report.
The report (Greeks cannot tap cash in safe deposit boxes under capital controls)
was little noticed at it was published on the less trafficked ‘Bonds’
section of Reuters.com on Sunday July 5th at 1:58 pm EDT or 6:58 pm GMT.
Sunday afternoon and evening is a time when traders, investors and even
eagle eyed news junkies are likely to be taking a well earned break.
The notion that safe deposit boxes – facilities that are used by many
precious metals investors and others seeking to safeguard their wealth
and valuables – need to come under capital controls to protect against
bank runs is a dubious one.
This cash is not in the banking system – its withdrawal would have no
negative impact on the system. Its availability to its owner might
bring cash into circulation which would benefit the wider community.
The only reason to put access to safe deposit boxes under capital
controls – measures which were agreed between the government and the
banks – is because the banks and governments wish to retain the option
of confiscating the contents of those boxes should the crisis deepen.
The low level war on cash and gold looks set to intensify, and
governments look likely to wish to prevent savers and investors taking
their cash out of the bank and putting them in safe deposit boxes.This draconian move may be part of an endeavour to do that.Safety deposit boxes are
a convenient facility to store a small quantity of precious metals.
However – as the Greek situation demonstrates – the convenience of ease
of access to a local safe deposit box can be offset by the fact that
governments and banks can lay claim to their contents at the stroke of a
pen.
It would be unwise to view Greece as an exceptional case.
Such complacency is not shared by respected economic historian Marc
Faber who recently warned Bloomberg viewers that “Greece is coming to
your neighbourhood very soon” because “the world is over-indebted”.
This view has been echoed by many well placed observers from HSBC,
Goldman Sachs and Fidelity in recent months. Most recently Fidelity’s
Ian Spreadbury made the highly unorthodox recommendation that savers
should keep some precious metals and cash “under the mattress”.
What happens next in Greece will determine the fate of the deposit
box holders and indeed all citizens in Greece and indeed the wider
Eurozone.
The ECB, reneging on its duty of lender of last resort, has put
Syriza in an untenable position. It should be remembered that Mario
Draghi came to the ECB from Goldman Sachs despite the fact that Goldman
were found to have aided the previous Greek government in order to cook
the books in order to borrow €1 billion that it could not afford in 2008
and indeed to join the monetary union. Indeed it is alleged the Draghi
himself helped cook the books but he denies this and says Goldman did
this prior to his joining.
The Telegraph’s AEP writes, “The Greek banks are on the verge of
collapse. There is not enough cash left to cover ATM withdrawals of €60
billion each day through this week, or to cover weekly payments of €120
to pensioners and the unemployed – that is the to say, the tiny fraction
of the jobless who receive anything at all.”
In the run up to the referendum former Finance Minister Varoufakis
had made assurances that the EU had no legal power to expel Greece from
the euro – a statement which likely encouraged the electorate to vote
“No”. True though this may be, the EU institutions have instead created
the conditions whereby Greece either capitulates completely or is forced
to leave the euro of its own accord.
The “deal” which Tsipras must now get through parliament in Athens
may save the banking system for now – or not, depending on the reaction
of the public to the deal – but at great cost to Greece.
Pensions will will be slashed, Value Added Tax (VAT) or sales tax will be imposed on goods and services.
Vital elements of Greece’s infrastructure will be sold off to
businesses with close links to the financial institutions who played a
key role in creating the crisis – and yet have only benefitted from the
repercussions – following the typical IMF template for debt colonialism.
Whatever the outcome with regards to the contents of safe deposit
boxes in Greece – while not forgetting that there are far more pressing
issues at stake for the people of Greece and Greek society – there is a
clear lesson from recent events.
As we consistently warn gold, silver and cash stored within the
financial and banking system is in no way secure in the event of a
crisis.
Investors should hold some physical gold and silver outside of the banking system in secure and private safe deposit box facilities.
Precious metals should also be held in jurisdictions with a reputation
for respecting private property such as Switzerland, Hong Kong and
Singapore.Must-read Guide: 7 Key Gold Must Haves

MARKET UPDATE
Today’s AM LBMA Gold Price was USD 1,153.20, EUR 1,046.89 and GBP 745.27 per ounce.Yesterday’s AM LBMA Gold Price was USD 1,154.95, EUR 1,043.13 and GBP 741.59 per ounce.Silver in USD – 5 Years
Gold fell $5.10 or 0.44 percent yesterday to $1,157.90 an ounce. Silver slipped $0.08 or 0.51 percent to $15.50 an ounce.
Gold in Singapore for immediate delivery ticked lower and gold in Switzerland also weakened despite considerable uncertainty regarding the Greek “deal”.
Gold prices are down for a second day after ending yesterday down
half a percent in dollar terms but 1% higher in euro terms as the euro
fell on international markets. Support is at $1,155 and that level is
holding for now.
Asian shares were mixed and future contracts tracking China’s key
stock indexes fell sharply, suggesting a three-day rebound may be losing
momentum.
European stocks are lower today on concerns that Tsipras may not be
able to get the debt deal over the line in the Greek parliament. Even if
he does, his government may not last long thereafter and a subsequent
Greek government may elect to honour the will of the Greek people and
rip up what most fair minded people see as a very unfair and completely
impractical “bail out”.
Euro zone finance ministers will hold a telephone conference to
discuss Greek bridge financing tomorrow, Austria’s finance minister said
on today. It does not necessarily need a euro group summit to agree on
bridge financing, Hans Joerg Schelling said. “If a reasonable proposal
comes up, the euro zone finance ministers probably can decide about it
in a conference call,” Schelling said.
The world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New
York-listed SPDR Gold Shares, rise 1.5 tonnes on Monday, its first
inflow since June 25.
Silver’s underperforming, down 1%, putting it on track for a fourth
straight week of losses – if it ends this week in the red, it will have
fallen in eight out of the last nine weeks.
Platinum and palladium are also marginally weaker, after both bucked
the falling trend in gold and silver yesterday to rise 0.3% and 1.2%
respectively.Breaking News and Research Here